Coil for circuit breakers



Allg- 16,- 1932. R. c. VAN slcKLE I 1,872,369

COIL FOR CIRCUIT BREAKERS Filed Aug. 9. 1927 lNvENToR Pain/e# (2 Van Af/e.

v ATTO'RNEY Patented Aug.' 16, i932 noswnLL o. van sicxLE.- or wiLxmsnUae,-rmsnvama. assioma 'ro a yHOUSE ELECTRIC Q: MANUFACTURING conm, A OOBPOMTIOI 0F 2mmvaina Appunti@ nieu .iugm s, isa?. serial n. siis't.'

` One object of my invention 1s tofprovidea 'is solenoid that has a pluralityof separate windings.

Another object of my invention is to 'pro-k vide a solenoid .with a plurality of se arate windin that may be interconnecte with 10 each ot er in different ways to vary their exciting ampere turnswithout having to change the voltage impressed upon them.

A further object of my invention is to providea solenoid with separate .windings that 5 may be interchangeabl connected so as to produce the same num er` of ampere turns under different supply voltages.

It has been necessary, heretofore, to employ a. specic operating coil corresponding 0 to the supply voltage in order to obtain `the numberof ampere turnsY required to actuate the circuit-breaker operating mechanism. It has, therefore, been necessary for a manufacturer to keepin stock a large number of coils 5 for each operatin mechanism. Furthermore, any one mec anism may. be employed to operate circuit breakeigsof several different sizes, that is to say, a mechanism having 'a three-inch core may be employed to operate 01a single-pole 4,000 ampere breaker, a twopole 2,000 amperel breaker, or a 'three-pole 800 ampere breaker. v y f It has been the practice, in the circuit interrupter art, to provide the closing mechanism with acoil capable of operating the circuit vthrough a range of voltage varying from 72% to 112%. "At the higher value, the circuit interrupter must not close with such violence as to result in the destruction of any of its parts while, at the lower value, ythe latching ofthe interruter should be assured. Asa

` coil cannot be signed tooperate successfully over a larger range, it willvbe seen that for any one particular mechanism several coils must be designed for each linterrupter size,

kpair as the forces required'to close the `one', two and three-pole breakers will all be different. As the usual operatingvoltages range from 125 volts to 600 volts, the number of coils which the manufacturer must keep in stock for each operating mechanism becomes quite large. It is in order to avoid this multiplicit of coils that I have invented the coil l.that is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which :l

Figure 1 is a view, in elevation, of a particular embodiment of my invention;

` Fig. 2 is a sectional view on theline II--II of Fig. 1; o j

Figs. 3 to 8 are diagrammatical views of some of the connections` thatvmaybbe made -t o the terminals shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 9 is a view, in elevation, of acircuit interrupt/er embodying a feature of-"my invention shown in Fig. 1.

My invention comprises, in general, a coil 1 that isof the usual type except that the windings therein contained are separate and may consist of wireoi a single size or wires of different sizes, and all of lthem 'may be uniform, as re ards the number of turns, or v th may be di erent in this respect.

Figs.,1 and-2, each winding 17, 18 and `'19 terminates at -the surface of the coil in a pair-of terminals. The drawin shows an upper pair 2 and 3 for winding 1 a middle 4 and5 for winding 18, and a bottompair 6 and 7 for winding 19.- Each pair of terminals belongs to a winding so designed that 4it kmaybe connected directl across a supply line of some standard yo tage. By

this-construction, each windin may be employed to voperate the circuit reaker separately, thus making possible the em loyment ofthe same solenoid with sources 'o several dierent voltages. Eig. re resents a connectionof this character iiA w ich onl fthe uperfpair of termina1s',2 and 3 of win in 1 are employed.

y. a o'oilof the above type that has actually been employed, the above described connection to. terminals 2 and 3 results `in producing a pull of 26,700 ampere-turns with 100 volts impressed. Fig. 4 shows a connection in which the windings 17 and the windings 18 are connected in parallel. This arrangement resulted in a magnetizing force of 46,400 ampere-turns with the saine supply voltage. In Fig. 3, all of the windings are connected in parallel, thus producing a ma etizing orce of 57,600 ampere-turns wit the same supply.

Various other forms of connections, some of whichV are shownin Figs. 5, 7 and 8, may be employed that will produce strengths in the pull of the solenoid ranging from 11,200

ampere-turns to 57,600 ampere-turns. This variation is obtained by connecting the pairs ci' terminals `iii various ways; that is to say, iii series, as in Fig. 8 in parallel., as in Fig. 3;

one in series with a pair of coils connected in parallel, as in Fig. 5,-or one in 'parallel n with a pair connected in series. The magnetizing force may further be varied b connections with all ofthe coils acting in the same direction orrwith one" or more coils opposed magnetically ,to the others.

1n this way, the resistance and effectiveY number of turns of the solenoid aggre ate are varied, and thus many different num rs of ampere-turns may be obtained at a given impressed voltage. An operating vmechanism equipped with a coil of 'this type may be employed to actuate a newly designed circuit` interrupter before the pull required to close it is definitely known, as an arrangementof the windings may-readily be found which Y willprovide the required magnetic force.

For the same reason that different pulls may be obtained for a given source of supply by rearranging the connections of the different pairs of terminals, it will also be seen' that my inventionis useful in providing aV winding having thesame number of ampere turns for different supply voltages. If it is desired to move the mechanism to a place where the source of energy to supply the op erating solenoid will be different; or if it be desired to make a changein potential of the supply circuit, it will only require that the connections yof the various pairs ofterminals vbe changed. This avoidsI the necessity of securing a new coil designed specifically for the new supply voltage.

A 1n constructing a coil of this type,a proper selection of the size of wire for each 'winding should be made so that the 'various connections thereof will result in a'solenoid in which different numbers of ampere-turns may be obtained in regular steps, covering a wide range. As a specific'illustrationpf a set of windings Iwhichv I have found to be of practical utility, the data sheet-of a solenoid havingthe above characteristics is given below, in which is shown the terminalconnectionsfthe terminals with which the leads are associated and the resulting ampere-turns obtained when a 100 volt suppl circuit is connected across the leads. In t is solenoid the winding between terminals 2-3 has 1110 turns and 5.74ohms resistance; that between terminals 4 5 has 782 turns and 4.97 ohms resistance; and-that betweenterminals 6-7 has 875 turns and 9.8 ohms resistance.

Terminals Terminals Ampereeonnacted connected m turns at together leather 1w volts 3dr-6. 6-7 2-7 28, 4m

2-4 SP5-6 2-7 18, 5w

H H 2-7 v17, 4m

The above tabulation does not 7contain any casein which one or more, coils are bucking the magneto motive force of another coil 'hich would provide an addition to the above ata. f c

It ma Vbe noted that, with this coil, itis possible to have two combinations giving the same total number ofampere turns but with different resistances and different numbers of effective turns. This means that the time constant of' the coil will'be diiierentfor the two combinations. Therefore, it should be possible to vary 'the speed of `closing of the breaker on this particular set of pointsythe,

one with the lower time constant closing the breaker more rapidly because the currentl will build up in the coil in a shorter length of time.

Such a circuit breaker employed` with my fcoil is shown in Fig-9 wherein a main crn cuit 8, 9 is bridged by a single pole-unit 11 thatis connected through an operating mechanism 12 to an armature 13 which moves thev pole unit to closed circuit position. -A core member 14 is associated with the armaturel 13 and is energized through the medium of the coil 1 thatl is connected to the supply circuit 15, 16. The armature, coil and core member imay be employed to operates. plurality of pole units 8 on a polyphase circuit of, less current rating. 4The plurality of small pole units .will require approximately the same'pull when operated as that requiredby the-single large pole unitf t will' thusjbe seen that I have devised a solenoid thatlwill be -useful in thecircuitbreaker art, since a coil thus designed is ex# tremely flexible in application. A wide icc range of different pulls may be obtained with a given source of energy by merely changing nevasee l the connections to the various windings; or,

alternately, the same pull may be obtained when employing supply circuits of different voltages by the reconnections ofl similar character. This isa great saving in time and money both to the manufacturer and to the consumer, as one coil may now be employed to take the place of a multiplicity of coils heretofore required. f

It is to be understood that such changes in the form, arrangement, and connection of the component parts of my invention, may be made asshall fall withinv the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention: f.

1. An actuating solenoid for a circuit interrupter having three separate windings each of a different vsize of wire, said windings each forming a separate circuit. v

2; In an actuatingv device for a circuit breaker, a movable core member for actuating a plurality of single-pole circuit interrupters, a coil therefor havlng a plurality of separate windings, said windings being constructed so that they each oduce a different number of ampere-turns w en supplied from a sourceof the same voltage. l

3. A solenoid for circuit intrrupters having a plurality of separate windings, each of said windings being'constructed so as to pro- Aduce a number of ampere-turns `diierent from that produced by each of Athe other windings and means for interconnecting the several windings.

4. A solenoid for actuating a circuit interrupter comprising a plurality of windings, each of said windings being of wire having a 4dii'ereut resistance per turn, and having a separate electrical circuit, and means for connecting said windings in a plurality of diierent combinations, said means including a pair of external terminals for eachof said windings. I

' 5. A solenoid for actuating a circuit interruptery comprising a plurality of windings, each of said windings being of wire having ternal terminals, and each of said windings being of wire of a different size.

7 An actuating device including a movable armature and a magnetizing coil for moving said armature, said coil comprising a plurality of windings leach having an independent electrical circuit'and a pair of external terminals, and each of said windings bein of wirek of a different size and having a di erent number of turns.

8. An actuating device including a movable armature and a magnetizing coil for movf ing said armature, said coil comprising a pluralit of windings each havingl an indepen ent electrical circuit and a pair of external terminals, having a different number of turns.

9. An actuating device includin a: movalble armature and a magnetizing coi for movingsaid armature, said coil comprising a pluand each of said windings p rality of windings each having an independn ent electrical circuit and a pairof external terminals, and each of saidwindings havin electrical characteristics such that each di ferent connection of said windings produces a magnetomotive force of a different strength to move said armature.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 3rd day of August,

ROSWELL C. VAN SICKLE.

. a. different resistance per turn, and having y 

